‘Murder 3’ review: The art of 'murdering love' - Randeep Hooda style!

Re-making a film of some other language in Hindi – and declaring the same before the film is released is actually a very clever move that director Vishesh Bhatt had made. So in case one has watched the Spanish thriller ‘La cara Oculta’ (‘The Hidden Face’) – one might actually not want to go through the Hindi version of it. ‘Murder 3’, you guessed it correct, isn’t worth that much the effort. Debutant director Vishesh Bhatt has done a moderate job of directing this thriller – but it is an exact copy (okay, re-make!) of its Spanish counterpart. 'Murder 3', also, ends on a note which is a bit abrupt. The film has its share of thrills and chills in parts, but doesn’t really leave a dent on one’s mind eventually.

Vikram (Randeep Hooda), a wildlife photographer in South Africa, gets a lucrative contract which involves him shifting to fashion photography and moves to Mumbai with his girlfriend Roshni (Aditi Rao Hydari). The two have everything going their way with fancy palatial houses in Mumbai (that needs some clarification, though… where exactly in the city do you find such houses!), beautiful song sequences and so on. A fairy tale – just that the wonderland gets tainted by hints of suspicion.

Roshni suspects Vikram to be cheating on her with his hairstylist Niyomi, and decides to leave him. She leaves a recorded video message and Vikram’s world comes crumbling down. The man whiles his time away in gallons of whiskey and a lot of work.

Enter Nisha (Sara Loren), a curvaceous waitress at the bar Vikram frequents. Nisha is sympathetic towards Vikram and as she says, “… tanha mard ke aankhon mein aansoo mujhe pasand nahi hain” (I don’t like tears in the eyes of a lonely man). She takes the drunken Vikram home one night when the latter is hit in an altercation, and so begins Nisha and Vikram’s affair. She moves in with Vikram, in his house, after a bit.

Roshni, meanwhile, has mysteriously disappeared and according to the police, Vikram is at the crux of it all. And then there are weird noises from the washroom which almost robs Nisha of her sleep. Nisha is convinced that the house is haunted and tells Vikram of it all, who laughs them off. Obviously, there’s a lot more than what meets the eye.

Randeep Hooda as the wildlife/fashion photographer could have done much, much better with a different hairstyle. As far as acting is concerned, Hooda does a fair job. There are moments when you wish he didn’t always speak like he’s perpetually drunk, but thankfully those bits don’t stay on for long. The doting boyfriend at times and the jilted lover at others, Randeep manages to play his part well, but doesn’t really make an impact on the minds of his viewers – we’ve seen him perform better.

Debutante Sara Loren comes scarily close to being monotonous when it comes to expressions. She needs her acting skills polished, and the sooner, the better; Loren seems to have what it takes to be an actress – when she is not screaming, though. Sequences, which, again, are few and far in between.

The one who actually shines howsoever among the trio is Aditi Rao Hydari. The girl who forayed into the industry with a completely de-glam role in ‘Delhi 6’, has seen some impressive performances in between in ‘Yeh Saali Zindagi’ and ‘London, Paris, New York’. Hydari, in this one, does a great job of playing Roshni. The supporting cast comprising Rajesh Shringarpure as the police officer and Bugs Bhargava Krishna as DK Bose (yes, for real!) don’t disappoint.

What disappoints, however, is the raw direction. Vishesh Bhatt, the debut, hasn’t done a brilliant job with the director’s hat and there are scenes in the film which are downright funny, and unintentionally so. Nisha’s screams at the drop of a hat, for example, tend to get on your nerves after a while. ‘Murder 3’ stands out in few moments; when Hydari breaks down in front of the mirror being a commendable one. The film picks up pace a little while before the intermission, and then keeps the viewer sort of hooked on to it. But there are no nail-biting, spine-chilling, throwing-you-off-your-seat stuff.

The music is a huge redeeming factor of the film with Mustafa Zahid (Roxen) and Pritam having done a job which deserves a pat on the back. All four tracks, ‘Teri jhuki nazar’, ‘Mat aazma re’, ‘Jaata hai tujh tak’ and ‘Hum jee laingay’ are extremely melodious and hummable, sing-able ones. The Bhatts have always had their music clicking for them, and ‘Murder 3’ is no exception.

In a nutshell, ‘Murder 3’ is a onetime watch, only if you are a huge fan of Aditi Rao Hydari. This film too, will probably fade into oblivion leaving only its music on people’s lips for a long time to come. Two out of five from me for ‘murdering love this Valentine’.